Alice and Nationwide internet banking

[Lachouette]

For the last three weeks or so I haven't been able to properly access our Nationwide accounts from our home PC although I can do from other people's.

We have an Alice ADSL connection (Sagem box), and use Firefox to browse.  I can get into the accounts and see them, and move money around between accounts but can't do anything useful like settle credit card bills through the payments and transfer pages.  I've spent hours on the phone to Nationwide, have reported the problem to Alice who claimed to have done somehting to our account/connection this week, tried IE to browse but it's no better.

I'd be eternally grateful for anyone's insight..........before I wind myself up to talk to the Alice techie man who appears to sit in a biscuit tin.

Jan

[Dave&Olive]

hi ok

                send us your bank details and passwords and I will have go ...

 

                   [6][6][6]

                      Alot Richer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                             Dave

[Danny]

this is a bit bizarre. I have a Sagem box too

I am following the updates at the moment. Three versions of the Alicebox - Pirelli, Sagem and Hitachi - are in the process of being updated to all have the same firmware - (the software which controls the workings of the box)

The first update was about 2-3 weeks ago - version 2.0.2. Then they made minor amendments last week version 2.0.3 and again yesterday, version  2.0.4 to correct minor bugs. This is the latest version.

You can check which version you have by putting 192.168.1.1 in to your address bar in Firefox to bring up the console (modem configuration pages)
Enter alice and alice as the user name and password
You will see on the top right Version du logiciel. It will say 2.0.2 or 2.0.3 or 2.0.4

Your modem will probably update automatically to 2.0.4 but if you restart the modem, it will probably update to the latest version.
To do this, click on Redémarrer le modem and you will have a choice of resetting with original factory settings or keeping the present settings. wifi etc
There have been many people losing their wifi settings or telephone settings with certain upgrades.

This may of course not help anything with the Nationwide site. It may be coincidental that you are having a problem at the moment. I assume you have tried deleting your cookies in Firefox and IE...

I don't really understand how the Alice changes could affect just the Nationwide site. You could try with a different browser. Maybe Google chrome, just to see if there is any difference.

The site http://www.c-alice.com/ is full of very useful info if your French is up to it and the forum is very helpful. I have seen no mention of Nationwide there yet! Not even of anyone having difficulties with certain sites.

Danny

[jyvais]

Is it possible for you to borrow someone else's laptop for a short while?

If so, before you borrow it, verify that you can access your Nationwide account okay via your friend's connection.

Then, connect the laptop to your ADSL box. You shouldn't have to install any of the ADSL software but if you do make sure that you create a restore point first, then you can make sure that after the experiment the laptop can be returned to the state it was before you installed anything.

Hook up the laptop, connect to the Nationwide. If you still have a problem, its very likely to be a problem with your Alice connection, if not, then there's a problem with your PC setup.

Does that make sense? I know the above won't fix the problem but at least by a process of elimination you will have a pretty good idea where the problem lies.

[cooperlola]

I use Alice and have no such problems although my browser is the dreaded IE8 which so many people seem to like to slag off at the mo!

One thing occurs to me and I expect you know this so sorry if I'm teaching my grandmother- but those transactions do require you to have a card reader now, and N/W have no doubt mentioned too.  That's the only thing I can think of.

[Lachouette]

[quote user="cooperlola"]

- but those transactions do require you to have a card reader now, and N/W have no doubt mentioned too.  That's the only thing I can think of.

[/quote]

If only.....!!!!!  I can't even arrive at the page that asks you to shake the dust off the card reader.

I'll try some of the things others have suggested........thanks to all.  I'll let you know how I get on.

Jan

[jyvais]

[quote user="cooperlola"]

I use Alice and have no such problems although my browser is the dreaded IE8 which so many people seem to like to slag off at the mo!

One thing occurs to me and I expect you know this so sorry if I'm teaching my grandmother- but those transactions do require you to have a card reader now, and N/W have no doubt mentioned too.  That's the only thing I can think of.

[/quote] I use Nationwide as well and I am aslo a fellow IE8 heretic ;-)). I can use the site without any problems. I was surprised when I saw you mention that a card reader is required. I've not got one, yet I can do payments and transfers no problem. Perhaps it depends upon the type of NW account you have??

[AnOther]

This does sound very odd.

If you can do all that you say you can on the NW site then it's hard to see how the problem is yours let alone Alice's but as you can access the site without problems from another PC it suggests that it isn't NW's either.

Good luck in getting it sorted.

Which browser are you using as a matter of interest ?

[cooperlola]

[quote user="jyvais"][quote user="cooperlola"]

I use Alice and have no such problems although my browser is the dreaded IE8 which so many people seem to like to slag off at the mo!

One thing occurs to me and I expect you know this so sorry if I'm teaching my grandmother- but those transactions do require you to have a card reader now, and N/W have no doubt mentioned too.  That's the only thing I can think of.

[/quote] I use Nationwide as well and I am aslo a fellow IE8 heretic ;-)). I can use the site without any problems. I was surprised when I saw you mention that a card reader is required. I've not got one, yet I can do payments and transfers no problem. Perhaps it depends upon the type of NW account you have??[/quote]The cardreaders are being introduced steadily over a long period so I suspect they just haven't got round to you yet. 

 

Ernie - the o/p uses Firefox but has also tried IE from what I infer from her posts.

Edit : @jyvais I posted at the time about this, SEE HERE

[Lachouette]

Thanks Danny - I've now tried your  Alice console suggestion and find that I'm on 2.0.4 anyway, and having installed Chrome find that it's no better than FF and IE.  I'll try jyvais's laptop suggestion, but it might not be until later in the week as the owner isn't exactly on the doorstep!

I find this whole thing baffling too!  I managed to transfer a few £s from our Flexaccount into e-savings last night, but when I tried to knock an experimental tenner of the credit card account it wouldn't take me to the page required.  This month's credit card bill's been settled using a friend's PC and Orange connection.

I can however sign into Amazon UK and eBay + French PAypla and carry out transactions.  There's something very strange going on here!

Jan

[bubbles]

it makes sense to me and i am not a techie at all!

a good logical suggestion.

[Bilbo]

Have you got your little electronic gizmo that is now needed for such transactions? You put your depit card in it and follow the instructions. This did not used to be needed but is their new security system. I can only report that mine used to work with my connection via a Livebox, which may not help you much.

[Lachouette]

[quote user="jyvais"]Is it possible for you to borrow someone else's laptop for a short while?

If so, before you borrow it, verify that you can access your Nationwide account okay via your friend's connection. [/quote]

Have now borrowed laptop and put this idea to the test..............had to install Alice's software first as we couldn't get on line otherwise, but having done that found that I could do no more, and no less than I can on our own PC.  Jiggling money between accounts works but trying to pay a bill, even a Nationwide credit card bill takes me to a 'page unavailable' screen eventually.

Before I ring Alice again, I'll test a friend's connection nearby as this is another place that behaves as our connection does.

Jan

[Danny]

[quote user="Lachouette"]...had to install Alice's software first as we couldn't get on line otherwise

[/quote] this is strange...

if you are connecting by ethernet, you should just plug in the cable and off you go.

If you are connecting by wifi, then you will need the appropiate key from security settings of the Alicebox.

You don't need to install anything on the laptop.

Danny

[Lachouette]

We connected with Alice's blue USb cable.........and it certainly wouldn't work when we just plugged the cable in, but would when we installed the software that came with Alice's best box.

Am off up in the village in half an hour or so, once I've checked here again that nothing's changed, to check out the connection on a friend's Orange connection that might be linked ot the same phone line as us.

Jan

[Danny]

Ok,that explains the installing...thank you. I forgot about USB cable.

If you are able to connect by ethernet cable, it should mean a faster transfer between the Alice box and your computer...

that doesn't help the Nationwide thing though.

Danny

[Lachouette]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]

If you are able to connect by ethernet cable, it should mean a faster transfer between the Alice box and your computer...

that doesn't help the Nationwide thing though.

Danny

[/quote]

Have now tested friend in village's connection again and that works OK this time.

We've now reached the borders of my ignorance.  What's an ethernet cable and is one likely to have come with the PC? If I have one, I assume I'll have to un-install the Alice box software which asks you to make a choice between ethernet connection and USB, and then re-install using ethernet.  I'll try enything before I have to ring the Alice techies!!!

Jan

[Martin963]

An ethernet cable would have been supplied with the Alice box.   It has plugs on either end that work on the same principle as the BT phone plug system,  but the plugs are less wide and fatter,  ie chunkier  (although still small0.  You can see the socket on your Alice,  mine's got a yellow stripe marked on it.

As Danny says (and he knows MUCh more about Alice than I do) an ethernet connection should just "work";  just like that.    It's the USB that needs software,  and is klutzier.

[Danny]

As Martin says, the ethernet cable came with the Alice box. It should be yellow and goes in to the yellow ethernet socket on the Alicebox. The other end goes in to the exact same socket on your computer, if you have one!

You can look on the back of your PC and see of you can find it like the one with the tick on this picture http://mcit.merton.ox.ac.uk/images/etherRJ45.jpg

If it is not easy to look behind, (I will assume you have Windows XP - it is similar with other operating systems) you can look in Device Manager.

Right click on My Computer, select properties, open the Hardware tab and click on Device Manager. If you have a functioning ethernet connection, under Network Adapters, you will see your ethernet card/controller listed. Mine says "Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC" . Yours may have a different name - if it exists!

Assuming (lots of assumptions here!) there are no yellow question marks or red crosses next to it in the Device Manager list, then it should be working and you just plug your yellow cable in to the slot and you are connected.

This should have zero effect on your Nationwide woes. I have no idea why you should suddenly not be able to carry out certain functions on the site but still have general internet access. Following Jyvais's logic....If possible, just to be sure, I would test by taking your PC to your friend's house and connecting by ethernet cable to their livebox. If the problem persists, then we can eliminate the Alicebox as the culprit.

You can also try going in to the Alice console again and select Redémarrer le modem again and this time choose "Restaurer la configuration d'origine" if you have not already done so.

There may also be some conflicts with the new Alicebox firmware and Nationwide's site. It may be possible to change some advanced settings - but that may be otside my knowledge.

It may help if you tell us:

What make and model of computer you have ?
What Operating system do you have? 
What AntiVirus and/or firewall or antispyware software do you have installed? You could try disabling all of these one at a time temporarily to see if that gives you access. If yes, then that may point to the culprit. Don't leave them disabled permanently though.

If the problem only started recently, have you also installed any other programs lately? Have you noticed any other changes recently? for example, pop up windows, home page changing, slow computer....

Danny

 

 

[Lachouette]

Thanks for the time you've taken to answer this Danny.  Do you by any chance come from Oxford?  Just wondered as the pic of the cable comes from that fair city!

I've looked in device manager and have a VIA Rhine II Fast Ethernet Adaptor so as long as I can find the yellow cable I can give it a go.

I can't pinpoint exactly when this started, but all was well for paying the credit card bill in May and transferring (ie using the bill payments page and card reader) birthday presents in £s to our kids in May.  The problems appeared after that, and I might add after 2 of our sons visited and used our PC.  Both, safely back in the UK say they did nothing to alter any settings and haven't installed anything.

Our PC is a no name one from Cybertek in Limoges and its OS is Windows XP Home with service pack 3.  It doesn't seem slower than usual, we haven't installed any new software, and the home page hasn't changed.  The only firewall we have is the built in Windows one, and we have AVG Free on our emails.

I'll experiment more tomorrow - a day in Limoges in this heat is too much!

Thanks,

Jan

It's just occurred to me that in fact the Nationwide site, and some others, look as if the page's loaded completely but I still get the loading icon and it takes a couple of minutes before 'Done' appears in the bottom left bar.

[Danny]

Hi,

Not from Oxford, it was the first useful pic I found...

You have an ethernet connection - you just have to find where the cable goes!

If you can test your PC with someone else's connection that would be a very useful indicator of where the problem may lie.

There are some other things you can try - on the PC side just to see if it affects your ability to do things on the Nationwide site. 
Try using this to see if you get anywhere: go to start/all programs/accesories/system tools/ Internet explorer (no add ons).

Try a system restore to a date before you started having problems. This will not affect any of your personal data.

start/all programs/accesories/system tools/system restore.

Start up in safe mode - press F8 when the computer starts and choose safe mode with networking. This just loads a basic Operating system and you can still connect by ethernet - not sure about USB connections. Don't go anywhere else but the Nationwide site - your anti virus and firewall will not be active in this mode.

beyond that, I don't know what to suggest. If it is something to do with the Alicebox, then that is more challenging as lots of people are having problems with telephone and wifi etc since the new firmware.

You may have to call Alice to sort that...

At least if another computer using the Alicebox also has the same problems, that will back up your case somewhat.

I must stop now. Running out of ideas and time.... let us know what happens

Danny

[Lachouette]

[quote user="Jane and Danny"]If you can test your PC with someone else's connection that would be a very useful indicator of where the problem may lie.[/quote]

Having tried the system restore method and connecting with the Ethernet cable (having found both it and a hole for it) we finally resorted to carting the PC a few kms down the road to a friends and connecting with their Orange connection.  Guess what - no problem.  Just reconnected and am trying our connection again and the same old thing happens:

Connection Interrupted

The document contains no data.      

The network link was interrupted while negotiating a connection. Please try again.

I'm just about to look at the Orange offer - I hear they have an English helpline.  My French is fine for normal purposes but for having a techie conversation when I have an English OS, any help you can get is important.  I'll call Alice again, but am not hopeful at all that they'll resolve anything.

My thanks to Danny et al for their advice and support.

Jan

       

       

     

     

     

[Lachouette]

[quote user="Lachouette"]I'll call Alice again, but am not hopeful at all that they'll resolve anything.

[/quote]

I must have spent almost an hour on the phone with the Alice technical guy, and at the end of it was no further forward except they can see no problem at their end, and the only advice was to retry every day.  I'm now clean out of ideas, other than to borrow a spare Alice box I've seen lying around a friend's house unused, and see if that works chez nous.  I'm quite reluctant to jump out of the frying pan and into te fire with a contract for 12 months that could be as bad, and costs more as well.

Jan 

[Martin963]

I wish there was more I could do - silly part is I have Alice and Nationwide but I have never (but never) had to use the card reader thingy in the year that I've had it!

Others may know otherwise but unless you are very proficient with computers I'm not sure I'd try someone else's Alice box.   Only because I suspect that you'd have to teach it all your personal details (possibly including the VOIP set up) and the proper owner might then have to spend time resetting it back to their settings.   And might be annoyed if they didn't have the original parameters to hand somewhere.

I'm probably stating the obvious but I'm not sure it's just plug and play.

[suein56]

[quote user="Lachouette"]

I must have spent almost an hour on the phone with the Alice technical guy, and at the end of it was no further forward except they can see no problem at their end, and the only advice was to retry every day. 

[/quote]

Which browser do you use? If you use Firefox for example, then try accessing N/W with IE, or vice-versa. I know this might sound daft, but my son solved a very similar problem for our French neighbour in this way whilst he was here on holiday. Up to that point she had exhausted every other line of enquiry including quite a few calls to her ISP Darty.

Sue